Thursday, 20 January 2011

Trade Wars

I recently discovered the pleasures of Napoleon on the podcast network.

It's an interesting podcast presented by an Australian called Cameron Reilly, and an American called J David Markham, who is the author of Napoleon for Dummies.

I don't mind that neither of them like Britain or British policy towards their hero. I don't mind that they appear unaware of the Musical Hall songs of the First World War in which Kaiser Bill is mocked as a latter day Napoleon, and bemoan the comparison drawn with Hitler. I don't even mind that they appear blind to Napoleon's inability to punish the incompetance of his family members.

But having just listened to episode 18 about Trafalgar, it comes as no surprise that Markham wrote a book called Napoleon for Dummies.

According to Markham the battle of Trafalgar had very little impact on the course of the Napoleonic wars.

Really?

So it wasn't the British navy who was protecting the trade, which was financing the wars against France?

So Napoleon didn't bleed the French nation in the Peninsula to enforce the Continental System?

Ditto Russia?

Ok wargamers can ignore the context to a large extent when playing a game, but you would hope that historians wouldn't.

Yeah I know I am 3 years late - oh the irony of a Brit coming three years late to an American in matters of war.